Harriet held up a Plexiglas ball about two inches in diameter. “Take a look.”
The aegis floated on end inside, a needle less than an inch long and glittering like a diamond. It was so beautiful I forgot that it was going to be inserted into my best friend’s heart. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“It was what I did for many years once I started having children and left the front lines.” Harriet tucked the ball into her pocket. “Poor Viv. This isn’t anything I ever imagined for her.”
“Me neither.”
We stepped back from the table as a pair of orderlies pushed another hospital bed into the room, making it extremely crowded. Viv lay as still as when I’d seen her last, her arm still connected to the IV bags. She was naked from the waist up, with a blanket covering her breasts, though I was sure under these circumstances she wouldn’t care about modesty. The orderlies didn’t touch her, but as soon as the bed came to a stop next to the operating table, Viv floated off it and swiftly came to lie on the table without disturbing the blanket. The orderlies arranged the IV bags and wheeled the bed out.
“Everyone, stand back,” Rick said. “Ruby?”
“Remember how we practiced this,” Ruby said. “Rick will give the word when it’s time to begin. We’re short on time, but don’t let that turn into sloppiness. I will count off the time. Any questions?” She looked in my direction. “From anyone?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Then…good fortune to us, and God bless,” Ruby said.
The magi in scrubs, six in lavender, two in pure white, stepped back from the table all the way to the walls. Kirschbaum crossed the room to the cabinets and withdrew an IV bag. It glittered like the one already attached to Viv, but with the purplish-blue tinge of sanguinis sapiens. I’d seen sanguinis sapiens in liquid form many times, but never like this.
Rick was already removing the other IV bags. Kirschbaum carried the bag like it was an unexploded grenade and hooked it up, uncurling the plastic tube that fed off it and connecting it to the valve in Viv’s arm. Nothing happened. Kirschbaum checked the connection, waited for Rick to take Viv’s other hand, then did something to the bag that turned the plastic piping purple-blue.
Still nothing happened. Viv didn’t move. Rick’s expression was remote, as if he was listening to faint music and needed all his concentration to make it out. My chest ached from me holding my breath.
Viv twitched. Her hand closed slowly, then opened again. Her eyelids fluttered open. Her body tensed like she’d tried to sit up, and her right hand went to the place where the IV entered her left arm. Rick grabbed her hand and nodded to Jeremiah, who left his place beside me and crossed the room to take Viv’s hand from Rick.
“Sweetheart, it’s all right,” he said. “What do you remember?”
Viv blinked again. “I—the magic failed,” she said. “The anchors vanished too quickly.” Her voice was quiet, dry and scratchy like a rasp.
“That’s right.” Jeremiah drew a deep breath. “You broke the fulcrum, and it knocked you unconscious. You’ve been unconscious for several days.”
Viv coughed. “Several days?”
“Yes, and there’s more.” He kissed the back of her hand. “You were injured. The part of you that regulates your magic is broken. It can’t be repaired.”
“Oh,” Viv said. “It…I don’t understand. Am I dying? I need magic to live, right?”
“That’s right. But we have a solution. If you receive an aegis, it will take over the job of regulating your magic. It will save your life.”
Viv licked her dry lips and whispered, “I can’t be a magus. That’s not possible.”
“It’s possible,” Jeremiah said. “But you have to make the decision yourself, and you have to make it soon. Every moment you’re awake, more of your magic drains away.”
Rick beckoned to me. “Helena. Judy.”
I jerked upright and hurried to the other side of the table, followed by Judy. “You can do this,” I said. “You just have to want it more than anything, and for you, that means wanting to live.”
“Helena,” Viv said, turning her gaze on me. Her eyes were deeply shadowed and gleaming with tears, sure sign that she was about to break down. “What do I do?”
I took her other hand. “It’s painful,” I said. “I won’t lie to you. You have to be strapped down so you don’t hurt yourself. When Malcolm went through it, he was in so much pain, and he nearly didn’t recover. But you’re strong, and I know you can endure this. Please, Viv. We don’t want to lose you.”
Viv looked from me to Jeremiah, who actually was crying. Her jaw firmed. “If it’s my only chance at life, I’ll take it.”
I bowed my head in relief. “We’ll be here the whole time.”
I went back to stand by Malcolm, who put his arm around my shoulder. Judy resumed her place holding up the wall, but I saw her rub her eyes and knew she wasn’t as calm as she seemed. Jeremiah was talking to Viv in a low voice, words I couldn’t make out, but she smiled. He kissed her, nodded to Rick, and stepped away.
“That’s it, people, let’s do this,” Ruby said. The lavender- and white-suited magi surrounded the table, all of them working the leather straps to hold Viv down. The magi on my side of the table pulled out an extension and strapped Viv’s arm to it, swiftly removing the IV and making Viv cry out weakly. Jeremiah twitched as if he wanted to go to her, but stayed put. All I could see of her was that arm, buckled down securely, her skin nearly as pale as the leather.
Then they were done, and all movement ceased. For the longest time, nothing happened except Ruby, who stood by Viv’s head, stared at her enormous diver’s watch. Finally, she looked up. “Twenty-two minutes,” she said. “Begin now.”
It didn’t look like they were doing anything. The two white-suited magi flanking Ruby put their hands on Viv’s shoulders. The other magi just stood there. Harriet, next to one of the white magi, had her back to me. The back of her light gray hair was flattened as if she’d just gotten out of bed for this. I took Malcolm’s hand and crushed it in mine. He hugged me closer. His warm, strong presence reassured me. I closed my eyes and prayed more fervently than I ever had before.
A low moan broke me out of my devotions. Viv’s hand was clenched tight, and as I watched, she let out another moan. “It’s all right, Viv, don’t hold back,” Ruby said.
The air around the table wavered like heat haze and stank of ozone and the sharp smell of magic. Viv moaned again, louder this time, and her arm strained helplessly against the leather straps.
“Fifteen minutes,” Ruby said. “Step it up, people.”
The ozone smell grew stronger until I felt I might choke on it. Viv began screaming, a garbled sound as if she were gagged—which she was; they would have given her a mouth guard as Malcolm had had. I closed my eyes again and buried my face in Malcolm’s shoulder.
Then the screaming cut off, and Viv’s hand relaxed. A low murmur went up from around the table. “Keep going,” Ruby said, and put both her hands on Viv’s forehead. I didn’t see what happened next, but Ruby threw back her head and closed her eyes like an ancient priestess performing a sacrifice. Viv’s hand flexed, closed tight, and once again she strained against her restraints. Ruby was sweating and her eyes were still closed. “We should have kept that infusion going,” she muttered to Rick.
“It would have interfered with Damerel,” Rick said. “Keep her awake. Just a few more minutes.”
Ruby nodded and craned her head to see her watch without removing her hands from Viv’s forehead. “Twelve minutes.”
Viv screamed again, then sobbed as if the tears were being wrung out of her. Jeremiah’s face was a mask of anguish. I was sure I looked the same. All that kept me from tearing those magi away from my friend was my knowledge that she would die if this failed. And if she could bear it, I could.
“Ten—”
“It’s time,” Harriet said. She took the Plexiglas ball out of her
pocket and cracked it open one-handed. “Open the passage.”
The two white-suited magi each took a step forward. Viv made another strangled sound. The aegis drifted out of the ball and descended beyond my sight. There was a moment of total silence that made me feel I’d gone deaf. Then Viv screamed and bucked against the straps. Something broke, and her arm was free, allowing her to claw at her chest. Two magi swore and grabbed her arm, pulling it back down.
“Damn it, it’s draining faster,” Ruby exclaimed just as Viv went completely limp. “Four minutes. Jeremiah—”
Jeremiah and I shoved past the magi unfastening Viv’s restraints. “Viv,” Jeremiah said, “now you have to accept the aegis. It’s trying to transform you, but you have to agree to it. Viv!”
I snatched up Viv’s hand and gripped it in both of mine. “It’s okay,” I said. “Wake up, Viv. It’s okay.” Judy hovered at my shoulder, gripping the edge of the bed like she wanted to break a piece off.
“Two minutes,” Ruby said. Jeremiah glared at her, and she backed away.
“Listen to me, Genevieve Haley,” he said, “if you don’t come back from this, I’m giving your drum kit to Goodwill. Think about that. Some pimply adolescent banging away like a monkey on your drums. Wake up!”
“That’s good,” I said, wiping away tears. “Viv, you have to come back, because Judy and I will drive each other nuts without you to get in the way.” Judy choked on a laugh.
Jeremiah smiled. He leaned way over and whispered something in Viv’s ear.
Viv blinked. “You would not,” she said in a clear, strong voice. “You know how I feel about marriage.”
I cried out and dove on her as Jeremiah did the same. Viv put her arms around both of us. “I feel so dizzy,” she said. “And hungry.”
Ruby put her hand on Viv’s forehead again. “The dizziness is because your levels of magic are still dangerously low. It will take a few days for them to regenerate. And you’re hungry because you haven’t eaten for several days.”
Viv touched the small white scar on her chest in wonder. Deep red scratches scored her skin around it. “So when do I get to use magic?”
“That will take some training, too. We’ll get you set up for that as soon as you’re able to walk without falling over.”
“I look forward to teaching you my magic,” Harriet said with a smile. “Welcome to the family, so to speak.”
Viv nodded. “I’m sorry I scared everyone,” she said, brushing her hair back from her face. “I didn’t know breaking the fulcrum would do that.”
“It was insanity,” I said. “Why on earth did you do it? It should have been impossible.”
A look of confusion crossed Viv’s face. “Because you told me to,” she said.
25
“I…what?” I said.
“You were trying to reach Mr. Wallach,” Viv said, “and you shouted at me to smash the fulcrum. I thought it was crazy, but that maybe you knew something I didn’t. So I hit it with the toolbox, and that’s all I remember before waking up here.” She sat up, clutching the blanket around her chest, wobbled in a slow circle, and lay back down.
“I didn’t say anything,” I said. “Well, I guess I told Mr. Wallach not to touch the anchor—” I remember Viv wouldn’t know Wallach was dead.
“Did it work?” Viv asked.
I glanced at Ruby, whose lips compressed in a tight line. “No,” I said. “The anchors disappeared too quickly, and…Mr. Wallach is dead.”
Viv gasped. “No.”
I nodded.
Viv closed her eyes. “That’s the end of the project,” she said. “If he couldn’t make it work, and he’s—gone, we can’t shut our reality off from the invaders’.”
“It’s not so awful,” I said. “You saved everyone by breaking the fulcrum.”
“Not everyone,” Viv said, and began to cry.
Jeremiah put his arms around her again. “I think she needs some quiet rest. When can she come home?”
“It’s going to be another few days,” Ruby said. “This is still an untested theory. We’ll need to verify that her magic is regenerating as it should. But we can move you both into a suite outside the infirmary, which will be more comfortable in her recovery.”
“I am sitting right here,” Viv said, sniffling. “I need food. Macaroni and cheese. It’s what I eat when things look bleak.”
“I’m sure the cafeteria can handle that,” Rick said.
The door opened, and a woman in teal scrubs entered, pushing a wheelchair. Jeremiah helped Viv get into the chair and tucked the blanket securely around her. “I also want clothes,” Viv complained. “I feel so exposed.”
Malcolm, Judy and I followed the wheelchair into the corridor. Harriet, with a final hug for each of us, went with the lavender-suited magi in the other direction. I checked the time on my phone. It wasn’t even eight o’clock. “We won’t be late for work,” I said.
“What time is it?” Viv asked. “What day is it?”
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing your job is here,” Jeremiah said.
“I guess.” Viv craned her neck so she could look at me. “Helena, I swear it was you that told me to break the diamond. It’s not like I don’t recognize your voice.”
“I believe you, but I also know I didn’t say anything to you. But that can’t be the weirdest thing that happened that day.” I absently ran my fingers over my left hand and twisted my wedding ring back and forth.
“Yeah.” Viv sounded suddenly down. “I can’t believe Mr. Wallach is gone. What happened?”
“The anchors activated, and he was caught in their field.”
“That’s terrible. I wish—” Viv glanced swiftly at Ruby, walking beside her, and shut up.
“You wish he hadn’t been so stubborn?” Ruby said. “So do I. I hate to speak ill of the dead, especially since it’s Grandpa, but if he’d just let it collapse, surely he could have tried again.”
“Not really,” Rick said. “Those anchors took a lot of time and effort to create, and they each had to be unique. Meaning that if we’d had to repeat the experiment, we’d need a whole new set of anchors—no duplication. And we were running out of viable forms. I can’t say, if I’d been in Darius’s place, that I would have done something different.”
We walked in silence to the elevator, which took us back to the main level. “I have to report to Lucia,” Rick said. “She’s been in meetings since six o’clock this morning, going over the Toronto incident, so this will be happy news.”
“I’ll get you settled and started on a new round of transfusions, see if we can’t speed up your recovery,” Ruby told Viv. “The rest of you…thanks. We did something no one’s ever done before.”
“I guess there are worse things to be a guinea pig for,” Viv said with a smile.
Back in the car headed south, I leaned against the window and sighed. “I don’t want to go to work. Everything feels so…anticlimactic.”
“I understand,” Malcolm said. “You get keyed up over something big that has to happen, and when it’s over, all that energy and pressure has to go somewhere.”
“Exactly.” I looked at him. “Why do you think Viv heard me tell her to smash the fulcrum?”
“I have no idea. She might have been confused. That amount of magic, all in one place…it was contained, but suppose there was leakage? Or the field surrounding it expanded to encompass her? But if she heard someone and believed it was you, that doesn’t answer the question of who actually said it.”
“Maybe I’m the one that’s confused, and I told her to do it and don’t remember. My hand hurt so much, I might have blocked the memory.”
“That’s possible too. I don’t suppose it matters, though, not at this point. Something warned her to do it, and Viv’s actions saved almost all the people in the store.”
“I choose to be grateful and not worry about it.” That was only partly true. I felt it was a mystery that should be solved. But since I had no idea how to do that,
I decided to set it aside for now.
Malcolm’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. “You want me to get that?” I asked.
“Please. I’m expecting word from Tinsley about whether we’re wanted for follow-up in Toronto.”
I grimaced. “That sounds unpleasant.” I swiped past his lock screen and tapped the display. “It’s from Lucia, not Derrick,” I said. That wasn’t an improvement so far as Malcolm going into danger went. I read the few lines and felt numb. “She says a team in Baghdad went into the Well ten minutes ago. No news yet.”
“That’s suicidal,” Malcolm said. “I hope al-Hussein knows what he’s doing.”
“Do you know him? Personally, I mean?” I’d been introduced to him at the Conference of Neutralities, but we never had the opportunity to talk. I remembered him as a tall, intense man with dark eyes and a friendly smile.
“We’ve met a few times. He’s not careless, I suppose, but he takes risks I wouldn’t. Like, for example, sending a team into the Well. But maybe now is the time for risk-taking.”
“I think so.” The phone buzzed in my hand, and I read the new text. “She says…al-Hussein is in touch with the team. That makes sense.”
“It’s actually remarkable,” Malcolm said. “Everyone who’s gone into the Well in the past fifty years has almost immediately been cut off from the outside world, regardless of their method of communication. Maybe al-Hussein isn’t as careless as I thought.”
I put the phone into the cup holder. “If they could regain the Well—”
“What a boost to morale that would be,” Malcolm agreed.
“Who would be its custodian? It would need a custodian to be useful, right?” That sentence stirred distant memories I couldn’t quite place. I grasped at them, but they slipped away.
“I don’t know. The Board would appoint someone. Quickly, too.” Malcolm glanced my way. “Something troubling you?”
“No. I don’t know. It’s just, when I thought about a Neutrality needing a custodian to be useful, I thought I remembered something. But it’s gone.”
The Book of Destiny Page 28